All Performances

Sing songs, explore instruments, play games and have fun with music in our weekly sessions. Sessions aim to support the development and well-being of children under the age of 4 and their families through high-quality musical experiences and activities.

Led by a professional musician, all workshops introduce live singing and music-making in a fun and creative environment suitable for all babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers with their grown-ups.

We also run Little Singers sessions (for 0-4s) in other areas of Leeds and Yorkshire:

I love bringing my child; the space is beautiful and has a lovely atmosphere. It is brilliant that we have the chance to sing with a professional vocal artist. Coming to the sessions have given me more confidence to sing with my child at home.

Arguably the most cherished soundtrack to the Christmas season is the score to Raymond Brigg's The Snowman. This December the Orchestra of Opera North performs the music in all its heart-melting splendour to a live screening of the animation. Sure to captivate the imaginations of young and old alike, this is not only the perfect way to spend time with loved ones, but a wonderful introduction to the thrills, chills and power of a symphony orchestra performing live.

Before that, narrator John Savournin delights with the classic rags-to-riches tale of Cinderella with sensational music and illustrations to accompany the story.

Brunt’s conducting of every bar, from the opening buzzing bass line to the sudden consonant end assertive, was graceful, just like the music. Wonderful.

— The Times

Prokofiev

Cinderella Suite

Howard Blake

The Snowman

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Adrian Leaper, Conductor
Chorus of Opera North
Opera North Youth Chorus
Opera North Young Voices
Opera North Children's Chorus

The annual Christmas concert in Dewsbury is a sparkling showcase for Opera North's different ensembles. With a programme designed to feature its Chorus, Children's and Youth Choruses, all underpinned by the exceptional Orchestra, you'll be inspired to join in with the audience carols in a concert that will certainly get you into the festive spirit.

Having brought the curtain down on the last Kirklees Concert Season with an unforgettable programme of Sibelius, Bruch and Strauss, Adrian Leaper returns to conduct the massed forces. There's a distinctly Mediterranean feel to the concert as he brings a flavour of his adopted home of Spain to Dewsbury.

A remarkably assured performance... full of dynamic contrast and dramatic climaxes'

— The Reviews Hub on Adrian Leaper, Nature and Spirit ​

Talking Music begins at 6.10pm

Programme includes:

Turina Pérez

Evangelio Op. 12

Finzi

In Terra Pax Op. 39

Tchaikovsky

Nutcracker: Overture

Subscription packages now on sale.
​To save money and become a subscriber, download form or call Kirklees Box Office on 01484 225 755.

Fire up your Christmas spirit with an atmospheric concert of snow-laden and heart-warming music for the season, in an enchanting winter land.

Led by violinist David Le Page, a handpicked group of musicians including viola, cello, bass and piano play music for the season with festive pieces from across the world, in a Howard Assembly Room transformed into a wintry candlelit world.

Traditional carols such as I saw three ships and Coventry Carol feature alongside classical pieces by Prokofiev and Purcell, as well as Catalan carols and Spanish guitar.

Join award-winning storyteller Ursula Holden-Gill for a magical journey through tales of winter, including the Russian folk story of the old lady Babushka. Listen to live music inspired by the frozen landscapes of Eastern lands and make your own Russian-inspired Christmas decorations, with a treat or two along the way.

The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and their director Graham Ross make their debut at the Howard Assembly Room with a beautiful Christmas programme in praise of the Virgin Mary and the coming of the light.

A New Year celebration like no other. Join the Orchestra of Opera North and conductor Justin Brown as they close the year with a traditional musical trip through Austria-Hungary with a glittering world of waltzes, polkas, marches and song.

Equally at home on the symphonic platform as on the operatic podium, conductor Justin Brown, General Music Director of Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Germany, and Music Director Laureate of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, will sweep you off your feet and into the New Year with this delightful afternoon of Viennese classics.

Nothing comes close to the sound of an opera chorus – and now you can be part of one. Explore music from iconic operas, inspired by Opera North’s Fatal Passions season.

Rehearsals will be run by a vocal leader, who will support you in building your ensemble singing and music reading skills, as well as further developing your vocal technique. You will also work with a guest director, who will help you to develop your performance and stage craft skills.

Showcase your newly acquired skills at a relaxed performance for friends and family, on 26 March

Suitable for: People who have some experience of singing and are comfortable following a music score

One of the best-loved operas of all time, Cio-Cio-San is a young Japanese woman who sacrifices everything to marry Pinkerton, the dashing American naval officer. Cruelly discarded when he returns to America, Butterfly is driven to a final and dramatic act of despair.

With its exquisite set and costumes, this emotionally direct and beautiful production by Tim Albery is devastating in its impact. Madama Butterfly features some of Puccini’s most famous music including ‘Un bel dì’ and the ‘Humming Chorus’. French soprano Anne Sophie Duprels has won widespread praise in this production in the role of Cio-Cio-San.

Simply one of the most memorable and powerful bands to ever appear at the Howard Assembly Room, the Tuvan throat singers Huun-Huur-Tu return with their trademark blend of heart-hollowing melody, ferocious harmony, and an ingrained sense of the windswept horizons of their homeland.

Huun-Huur-Tu almost single-handedly introduced the outside world to Tuvan over-tone or ‘throat-singing’ techniques invented by nomadic hunter-herders of the Tuvan steppes and mountains.

They have gone on to an incredibly rich career including collaborations with Frank Zappa, Ry Cooder, Nina Nastasia and the Kronos Quartet. Using traditional instruments, percussion and an array of vocal techniques, they create a world of sound like no other.

One of the world's foremost lyric sopranos, award-winning Christiane Karg stands at the forefront of today's Lieder singers, praised for her stylish sensitivity to words and engaging stage presence.

Following performances together with Leeds Lieder Director and RPS Award-winner Joseph Middleton at Wigmore Hall, Luxembourg's Philharmonie, Copenhagen's Opera Festival, and in Germany and South America, the duo present a heady programme of exotic romanticism to commemorate Debussy's anniversary year.

The concert juxtaposes Debussy's settings of poets Verlaine (in the Ariettes oubliées) and Baudelaire (in the Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire) with Wagner's towering Wesendonck Lieder, and Karg has also programmed a selection from that most elusive and exquisite of song composers, Eric Satie.

Chistiane Karg’s diamantine purity of tone and impeccable technique put her at the forefront of lyric sopranos